


No World Without Verona Walls

by goodoldfashionedloverboy



Category: Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare, SHAKESPEARE William - Works
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22296274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodoldfashionedloverboy/pseuds/goodoldfashionedloverboy
Summary: Balthasar's sad news were given, and Romeo's fast horse was driven. To Capulet's honoured tomb he rode, to see his beloved in a deathly abode.Romeo finds his young bride moments before her awakening. Juliet awakes to a dank, dark, terrifying place, with only a quiet, familiar voice to awaken her.
Relationships: Juliet Capulet/Romeo Montague
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	No World Without Verona Walls

**Author's Note:**

> A chapter containing Juliet's sleeping thoughts, of Romeo's hurried ride, and the Friar's help to a young couple just hoping to find happiness in terrible circumstances.

_It was like to be asleep,_ Friar Laurence had promised, giving the girl the elixir she had so desperately craved. And she took it, diligently and quietly, knowing that the plan was sure to work. She had prayed so. But was it all foolish, what she had done? What Romeo, what Tybalt, what everyone had done? What would become of her upon her waking? She would not be welcomed by her parents or by her nurse, by her cousins Rosaline or Helena, whom she so dearly loved. And her most favourite, her Tybalt, was in the crypt laying next to her, where he would remain. He would not awake like she. 

_Oh, God, be gentle with my dear Tybalt,_ her brain prayed, as it began to awake. Her eyes were heavy, still happy to be in their induced sleep. Friar Laurence knew his work well, as Juliet's body was cold. Her heart had began working faster as the potion was now wearing off, and her fingers began to twitch around the flowers in her hands. Her cheeks were becoming rosy again. Soon enough would she awake, in the dark of the monument where her family was interred. She could all but pray that Romeo would be there as she awoke, as Laurence had promised her. 

Romeo rode, hoping to be faster than his horse could take. He needed to see her, once more, in hopes that the news were incorrect. In hopes that he should, by some mystical way, awaken her, and bring her to Mantua as he had gone so long waiting for. As he neared ever closer to it, he could almost imagine the sight of being with her again. To simply be with her - to hold her hand, watch her laugh and smile, and be happy again. Just the idea of that was enough for him. As he came closer, he saw a portly figure walking towards the tomb. He dismounted only to call out to the man, then was greeted by the gentle face of Friar Laurence. "Father!" He called out in relief, rushing to the man, kneeling down to kiss his hand. How happy was he to see the Friar, to see a face that would truly understand his pain. 

"Romeo. The letter arrived to thee in haste, then?" Replied he, helping the young man up. Though his young student's face was not one of knowing, but confusion. "Thou knowst of what happened to Juliet?" 

His head shook. "Balthasar arrived with the news that she had died, Father. That some illness had befallen her and taken her from me. Is that not true?" The idea that Balthasar could have somehow gotten it wrong - oh, but how would one mistakenly think one was dead? 

"Hardly from the truth, my boy," he said, "but thou must stay patient. My letter should have arrived to thee before now... Juliet is not dead, no." As he unlocked the tomb, he handed a torch to Romeo, then pried the door open. The ancient door groaned and creaked as it was disturbed, and Laurence shook his head. "The night before last I gave Juliet an elixir, all but stopping her body from true life. Her lungs barely fill, her heart nearly silent, her skin pale as a wintry ice. But she is not dead, no, as I promised her. The letter I sent thee was outlining that all, so that thou wilt have come with the knowledge of it all. Alas, God laughs at human's plans." They walked past the crypts of many, with Laurence holding tightly to his crucifix, praying in his heart as he spoke to Romeo. "She has but minutes left, and she shall awake, lovely as ever as you have beheld her."

As lovely as he had ever beheld her. But as Romeo approached her, with the veil covering her, his eyes filled with tears. _Oh, childish tears, away,_ he chided himself, wiping them away quickly. He pulled the veil off her and sighed, watching her a moment before taking one of her icy hands, placing a kiss there before kneeling next to her. Juliet's nose made a short whistle as she began again to breathe normally. Her mind was not awake, and would not be for yet a few moments more. But her cheeks, Romeo watched, with the Friar behind him, began to redden, back to a shade more like her. Romeo's free hand went to rub his thumb gently across it, feeling the hidden warmth begin to come back through them. "Oh, Friar, dost thou promise she should awaken?"

With a smile, Friar Laurence went round to Juliet's other side, watching her sweet young face. "She shall be awake very soon. I pray thee, be quiet, give her time to awaken safely. She shall be fine." And with that, he held up his hand to Romeo's protestations, then bowed his head in a silent prayer, to hope his student's wife would soon awake. And as her body began to, with her chest beginning to rise and fall in slow, shallow breaths, her eyes fluttering behind their lids, his heart began lifting, out of his own relief that his plan had truly worked. "Lady Juliet?" Friar Laurence whispered, taking her free hand. 

A noise, deep in Juliet's throat, emerged. It was a quiet sound - the muscles there had had a bit too much rest, it seemed. Her fingers twitched in Romeo's hand. 

"Juliet?" Romeo now tried. 

The same noise came through again, and her eyes fluttered. Nearly blinking now, she awakened, her body trying to stretch in its exhaustion. "Mmm," came the noise again. 

The Friar moved, letting her hand go, urging Romeo to do the same. He did, nodding, though his eyes never strayed from Juliet's face. Her arms moved, going to rub her eyes as if sunlight had just hit them, as if waking in her bed on a warm summer's morning. As she rubbed her eyes, her mouth opened in a quiet yawn, though she still said nothing. What was there to say? She was awakening as she had done many times - her brain made no connection, though she knew of the circumstances she had been through. Her legs stretched, and she moved to sit up, though slowly and seemingly out of practice. It was only then, after the Friar had gone to assist her, that her eyes opened. They focused in the darkness of the tomb, not noticing right away that Romeo was there. "Nurse?"

Romeo's face lit up as he watched her, and he went to gently rub her arm. "No, love, but I am here... it's your husband," he whispered, moving so she could see him better. Friar Laurence moved to grab the torch, and brought it over, closer to them. "A thousand thanks, Father..."

Juliet's eyes shut at the quick light, though she gasped just seconds later, with them shooting back open. 

"Romeo!"


End file.
